Bedtimes and Brothers and Sisters
by LittleLongHairedOutlaw
Summary: Raoul is six and he's not a tiny boy anymore, but sometimes he has bad dreams and when that happens he likes to sleep with his brother, or one of his sisters, and they make all the bad dreams go away.


**A/N: Written for decemberelegy, who placed third in the PotORarerPairs Fic Contest, and requested something pre-canon with all the De Chagny siblings.**

* * *

It is Philippe's bed he goes to, normally, when he has bad dreams. He creeps in slowly, wrapped in his favourite blanket, careful not to wake his brother who sometimes is cross when he hasn't had enough sleep and sometimes doesn't mind. He is small enough that the bed barely stirs as he climbs onto it and slips under the covers. He curls up as small as he can, and even when Philippe does not wake it is easier to sleep, being close to him, in a bed that does not feel so very big when he is not alone.

Sometimes Philippe does wake, and his voice is not his usual voice because sleep changes it, but when he wakes he is never cross. He whispers "Raoul" and pulls him close, and he cuddles in against his brother who is so much bigger than him and must be big enough that he never gets scared and never has bad dreams about too much water and things grabbing him and ghosts. If any ghosts came Philippe would fight them off, he told him that, and Raoul is six now, he is not a tiny boy any more, but the whole truth of the world is that Philippe will fight the ghosts, and will not mind if he sometimes gets a bit scared.

It is always warm in Philippe's bed, and it is always easier to sleep.

But sometimes Philippe is away, with his friends, or he has to do serious work. And Raoul does not like being in Philippe's bed alone so those nights he goes to Aurélie's room instead. And Aurélie is not as old as Philippe, and she is never cross, and she always wakes when he goes into her bed and tells him stories of little things, little birds and little fish and little baby horses, and makes him smile and it is easy to sleep with Aurélie because he dreams of running around with the little baby horses and her arms are always warm. She kisses his forehead even though he's a big boy now, and holds him close enough that he can hear her heart and it is nice, to sleep, listening to that.

Sometimes Philippe is home, but his room is locked because he is not alone in it, and Violetta told him it is because Philippe is a man and sometimes men like to sleep with girls, so he supposes that sometimes Philippe does have bad dreams, and the girls he sleeps with make them go away the way Aurélie and Violetta and Bella make his bad dreams go away. Girls are soft, and they're always warm, and it makes him feel safe when he sleeps with his sisters so maybe Philippe feels safe when he sleeps with grown-up girls.

It makes a lot of sense to him, and he doesn't need any more explanation than that.

But Violetta tells him stories about ships going to faraway lands, and pirates, and princesses. He thinks he would like to meet a princess someday. They are probably very soft and have the best stories and loads of toys and pretty horses. The pirates sound a bit scary but the pirates in Violetta's stories are funny and they talk to the fish and to birds, and the faraway lands sound fun with gold and big animals and lots of sun.

He likes the sun.

He likes sailing too, but Philippe doesn't let him on the boat much, because he is so small, and only when the weather is _just right_.

Bella told him that she likes sailing but she isn't allowed to do it much because she's a girl, and that sounds silly but if there were pirates he wouldn't want Bella to get hurt. She plays with his hair and sometimes she steals him sweet things from the kitchen when he's sad, and she always plays with him when he wants her to.

He doesn't have a favourite sister, but that's alright. All his sisters are the best sisters and they're all very pretty and wear colourful dresses and have long golden hair. His hair is golden too, and Philippe's, but theirs is not nearly so long and sometimes Bella lets him put braids in her hair, and he likes the way it feels in his hands, and how it looks when it all laps together. It's smooth beneath his fingers.

They take it in turns to read him stories every night when they put him to bed, and he always gets a kiss from each of them and Philippe fixes the fiddly little buttons on his clothes and he doesn't tell him stories very often but when he does he lies down beside him and that's what Raoul likes best, when Philippe tells him stories to help him sleep.


End file.
